Father's Day

Since my Dad passed away in 2007 Father's Day hasn't really been the same for me (as you can probably imagine).  When I think back at all the Father's days I spent with him, I can't really remember a specific one.  I do remember how much he loved spending time with me no matter what the day.

Dad was one of the most stubborn people I know.  He was hard-headed, grumpy at times, and saw the world through the eyes of Fox News. "fair and balanced" he would quote.  From time to time he would rant and rave about how all our problems came, "The Democrats." I swear if there was an issue that he had to deal with you could rest assure he would some how loop it around to blame it on the Democrats. 

He also loved EBay.  That man would spend hours and hours looking at eBay.  eBay was among the very few things that could make him sit still.  Another was NASCAR races.  For a man who couldn't stay in one place for more than 45 minutes without getting antsy, it was amazing the hold that NASCAR had on him.  He would actually tape the race!  Can you imagine how many VHS tapes he went through?  He was a big fan of Dale Earnhardt, "the Intimidator."  the erie thing is dad looked a little like him.  It was kinda weird.  I definitely cannot see anything Dale Earnhardt related and not think of my dad.  I'm pretty sure a little part of him died when the #3 driver met his maker that fateful day. Naturally he started following his son, Junior, but it never really was the same.

Dad probably didn't experience a lot of love growing up.  Times were hard and they were poor.  His father was a cold, hard man.  I don't know much about my grandfather on that side, but I have to think there's a reason he's not talked about much.  Dad did make sure that I knew he loved me.  He would seriously call me every day.  Sometimes more than once.  He never left a message, just kept calling until he got me. He'd tell me in the cheesiest way sometimes...but he told me, and hugged me and kissed me.  The more years I am given on this earth, the more I realize what a treasure this was.  I had no idea the number of people that have never heard, "I love you" from their Dads!  He made sure in had cool stuff like cameras and video games.  He'd always make it clear that I was a smart kid and I could do anything I wanted to in life.  He pushed me to go to college and do well.  

I miss him.  I never really thought about the calls stopping.  Silence.  His specific ring tone never rang again after June 9th, 2007.  That was hard.  Shortly after I did get a new phone to stop myself from waiting for that blasted ring. It was such am annoying ring, how could anyone miss it??  

So, to all those out there who still have their Dads around...make sure you let them know you love them.  You appreciate their ridiculous attempts at showing their love, and you even love the stubbornness about them.  When someone is gone, some how all the annoying bad traits become endearing. 

The good news is that I believe I will see him again some day in Heaven.  That's another story for another time.

Happy Father's Day, Dad.  {{{points to the eye, makes a heart shape on chest with fingers, points to sky}}}

I love you.

Busy Busy!

Wow I've been busy lately! I can't even believe so much time has gone by since I posted last!

Where do I even begin?

When I last posted I was going to throw my sis-in-law-to-be a bridal shower...well it was wonderful! We had roughly 20 women there all to celebrate Jess! It was great to see her soooo celebrated! She was all smiles too, so I've gotta think she really enjoyed herself! ha! She did get 2 waffle makers...but I believe that was the only duplicate gift...I think anyway...

My trip to Omaha was great, as usual. It made me want to move back. I got to spend time with my brother and my aunt and uncle...niece and nephew as well...I just love them so much. It was really hard to come back to Chicago and start the daily grind again. I miss my family so much sometimes. It would be so nice to see them more often. My uncle reminds me some of my dad...so does my brother at times. We had a great time just sharing memories with each other. What a goofy family we are!


So, while at my brother's house, he showed of the stained glass window that he and my sister in law refinished! I have a picture of it below - it is SO beautiful! They bought it off Craigslist and cleaned it up and repaired it! How awesome is that?!?! They did an amazing job...I was SO jealous of their new "artwork" in their family room! Think I can ask for one for my birthday?? haha
Hmmm what else is there to share? Well, I have my grandma's 90th birthday party coming up, so that's exciting. The hubs and I are going to Chadron, NE for a family reunion soon where we will celebrate Grandma Morna's 90 years on this earth! I think God so much for her - she's possibly the most amazing person I know.

Ok - well had better wrap this up. I will attempt to keep this thing more up to date now that work has leveled off and my personal life has slowed down a bit. OH - one more thing though! I did end up giving the crabby quilt to my friend, she loved it, and it nearly went along with her nursery theme. Let's just say it didn't clash, so I was happy. Her baby is SO cute! What a little handsome man!

Ok - gotta run!

New focus.

So,

I've been in a bit of a funk lately...I hate it when life suddenly becomes "all about me". It's so awkward. I find myself running discussions about me this me that...and I wonder how any of my friends or family can put up with this. Thankfully...I don't think it happens too much, but when it does I'm sure it's annoying for everyone.

This week I turned 33. Crazy. I can't believe that I'm now well into my 30's. I don't know why it's so weird to me? It just is. I know in some cases I feel like I should have kids by now. I'm pretty sure the cat's outta the bag and just about everyone knows me and the hubbs are trying for a baby. If you are reading this, you know me, and you don't know that last bit of information - terribly sorry...I really did mean to tell you in person, but I either forgot when I had the chance or I think I already told you. Either way - I love you :) and meant to tell you! lol

This week was difficult and I think that's what's playing into my "all about me" week. Well I would suppose my birthday plays into it as well, so I don't feel awful about it - I just need to do some changing.

I've had no "quiet time". I think I will just skip over the other mundane details of the week and get to the real source of why it's been such a rough week. I've spent no time with the very one I call God. You would think by now He'd be a total priority every day, but I still struggle especially when I'm not attending a small group. I have a hard time just sitting down and reading the Bible on my own. I have a hard time admitting that honestly...but it's true.

I recently listened to a sermon a friend posted on her blog. It highlighted that it was our responsibility to getting OUT of any funk we might be in...by doing a few "simple" basic things. These are the notes I took while listening...

I want to remain aware of God's love.

Keep yourselves in the love of God. Keeping myself in the love of God is my responsibility...not my husband's, not my church's, and not my small group's job.

God works in us, with us, against us, or without us.

3 Ways to keep yourself in God's love

Build myself up in my "most holy faith" preach and apply in my own heart. Grow in my understanding of the gospel. Each and every day.

How do I do this?
- listen to worship music. nothing really lifts my spirits quite like listening and singing along with worhsip music...there's just something so fulfilling about it.
- praying - this is a little more difficult for me. I need a quiet environment for structured prayer. I do, however try to send up various prayers during quiet moments...
- wait for His mercy. This is really really hard. Wait? Who likes to wait? This is opposite of everything in me. I must remember - what I'm waiting for - makes ALL the difference.

All of this comes from the book of Jude. How terribly wonderful! I'm going to go see my best friend's new baby - named JUDE! What perfect timing!

This coming week I will have a new focus. Spending time in the Word is a must. No matter what! Even if I have to put off my craft room!!

A New Toy

I absolutely love new toys! Who doesn't? There are very few things more self-fulfilling to me than opening a brand new digital/electronic gadget. Just like a child I will more than likely take it everywhere I go and show it off for weeks. I just get so excited over gifts...especially when they are higher dollar gifts!

I don't consider myself terribly materialistic, I just love giving and receiving gifts. My husband and I share that trait, so it works out great for us both. (except in terms of minding our budget constraints)

I recently received a new ipad2 for my birthday. I was shocked, speechless even. I couldn't believe my husband got one for me...he totally surprised me and it was wonderful. In the last 2 weeks I have spent more time in the App Store than I'd like to admit. I've discovered Words with Friends (another great time waster, but I still think it's valuable because it's educational...right?) and loads of wonderful free apps. Each time I download an app it's like getting another small gift!

Gifts like this can be used for the good or for the bad. In my case I think I've done an okay job of keeping a good balance, but I must say it wasn't easy at first. I admit...I took it to work so I could keep up with "words with friends" the first and second day I owned the iPad. This was a poor decision and has since stopped for obvious reasons. Another not great side of having this new technology is that I often sit right next to my hubs on the couch and play with the iPad, while he watches 24. I would not define this use of our time as "quality".

So, I'm on a quest to use this thing for some good. I downloaded a Bible app as well as a blog app. For the next month I'm going to do my best to go through a 31 day Bible study and write out my thoughts each day. Each day the study asks questions about the passage(s) that I will answer. I will post the passage I am reading as well as my thoughts and answers to the posed questions. I'm looking forward to this!

I hope my 2 followers are as well!

Crabs!

So, I follow this blog (sweetfloweret - it's posted in my links). Tina has the cutest things on her blog! I love the fact that she posts every day. She has quite the following too! So impressive and inspiring. I was on her blog the other day and she posted the most darling crab fabric! Now - truth be told I don't generally seek out crab fabric, but I thought to myself, "self - you must make something from that!" So - I ran out to the fabric store and bought some!

I'm making a quilt for my friend's new baby (mentioned yesterday). Here is how it's going so far. I've not made a square block quilt before, so I'm just learning as I go. It's turning out okay so far. I have 3 more columns to sew together then I can sew the rows together, then attach the back, stuff in the batting, and apply the edging. I'm a little nervous about applying the edge around the blanket as I've never done this before...but it will be a good experience I suppose. And my gift-ee is more than understanding when it comes to hand-made-with-love flaws. haha!

In other news I've come upon a new game. WORDS. Actually Words with Friends! I remember a few years back I was a part of an online scrabble game among 4 friends. Each of us would take a turn - then the game would go to the next player. It was so much fun! The problem with the game was that it would allow any "word" so once people realized this they made up all kinds of not real words to get points...so I quit playing. NOW this game is back and it won't let you submit bogus words. The only thing is, only 2 people can play during 1 game. You can have multiple games at once, so that's nice. I hope they upgrade it to have 4 people to a game, how fun!

Tonight is the last night of my small group at church. It's had its ups and downs. Overall I think it was a good experience and I'm looking forward to the next small group study. Lina announces what "it" is tonight! I can't wait!!!

It's been a while!

It's probably a good thing I don't have a regular "following" on my blog. There are going to be times where I don't update very frequently at all. Perhaps I would make more time if I had more followers? I'm not 100% sure that would really help though. So much has happened since my last post.

First of all, my friend Shannon had her baby. I just can't wait to get back to omaha and see Jude! What a great name, Jude. She told me it means "happy." That is SO AWESOME! How would you like your name to mean happy? Love it! I'm currently working on a quilt for Jude...not sure if I will actually get it done in time...but we will see? I have 2 weeks...well...3 weeks to get it done. Making a quilt for Jude would be a lot easier if I knew how his baby room was docorated. All I have is "vintage nautical." ...well hopefully the fabric I picked out remotely matches this theme. Jude was supposed to be here in May, however apparently he had other plans!! I can't wait to meet him.

In wedding news - My brother's wedding is coming up quick! The shower is just around the corner...also in 3 weeks. I'm busy preparing cute games and praying the restuarant will have it all together when we arrive. The invitations are sent out and I'm already receiving RSVPs! I really hope Jess is pleased. I really want her to feel welcome in our family.

Jr. High - Wow only 5 weeks left in the jr. high year...and we are not meeting for 2 of them (Easter and Mother's day). That only leaves 3 more weeks with my 7th grade girls! They're going to be 8th graders before I know it! YIKES! I can't imagine how their parents feel...they move through jr. high SO FAST!!! Small group - This week is the last week small group will meet on Tuesday nights. A friend of mine usually does a summer study and I really enjoyed that last year, so hopefully she does it again!

Family - The hubs and I are doing really well! Not sure if I mentioned it before but we have a roommate right now. I feel like more and more he's becoming part of our family. Seriously. I mean, he was a friend before, but in the past month or so...he's just become part of our lives. It's honestly been a great experience having him in our home. God has completely blessed us by him staying with us, and I hope we have been/can be a blessing in his life as well. A lot of people have commented on how "generous" it is - that we opened our home, but really...after all God has blessed us with...how could we not? It's only because of him that we really have everything we do. Well - that wraps up my mini update.

Hopefully I get more family followers! Have a great day.

Mall Adventure!

So, when's the last time you spent 2 hours in a mall with a 13 year old girl? How about 4 of them? Or even 8 of them? Sound crazy? Well, it might be...but really...it's just something I do. I wouldn't recommend everyone go running to their church and volunteer in the jr. high youth group, but really if you did it would change your life forever.
When is the last time you found yourself in a fitting room trying on a nightgown? haha! Well, I can honestly say this could possibly be a first for me. My friend Melanie and I took our small groups to the mall today and we had a blast. The only sad part is that we really only got to spend time with 4 girls each and hindsight being what it is...I think it would have been super fun to spend time with all 8 of the girls. So what's with the picture? Well, this is me attempting to look old and frail...there's not much in the way of props in a Sears fitting room, so a nightgown was really all I could come up with.

Melanie and I made up a list of things the girls had to dress up as - then take their pictures. I swear we could have spent another hour doing this...it was quite fun to watch the girls creativity.

To the right we have Bessie, the hippie. We couldn't do much in the forever 21 store because there seemed to be a store associate on guard at all times at the dressing room. Might I say that Bessie is a super fast clothes changer!
To the left we have Keri, Natalie, Lexy, and Bessie all as movie stars...I know - one can hardly recognize them w/ those sunglasses and such! Very bling and high-profile these girls are!

Can I just stress that you really haven't lived until you go shopping with at least 3 or more of these girls.

Next up we have the princess, the picture is a little off, but I think it works well. After visiting Jessica McClintok ALL of the girls have decided that THAT's where they're going for their prom dresses. (you're welcome moms and dads out there)

I will try to wrap this up as quickly as possible, but there is just SO much I want to say. The girls I spent the afternoon with have to be some of the sweetest, kindest, funniest, and innocent girls I know.
I've been their small group leader for going on 2 years now, and really I must say I love them so much. They make me smile whenever I see them. I swear when I'm with them I feel 20 years younger...well...that is unless they start talking about crushes and all that. Haha.

Ok I will post some more pictures because they're just so much fun.

Intense workout!

Bike race!!!!

Bestie Bridesmaids
The Playa
Ready for a ball!
Best girls ever - and that INCLUDES the ones not in this picture (you know who you are!!!)